Extended state observer-based output feedback control for spacecraft pose tracking with control input saturation

This article proposed an extended state observer (ESO)-based output feedback control scheme for rigid spacecraft pose tracking without velocity feedback, which accounts for inertial uncertainties, external disturbances, and control input constraints. In this research, the 6-DOF tracking error dynamics is described by the exponential coordinates on SE(3). A novel continuous finite-time ESO is proposed to estimate the velocity information and the compound disturbance, and the estimations are utilized in the control law design. The ESO ensures a finite-time uniform ultimately bounded stability of the observation states, which is proved utilizing the homogeneity method. A non-singular finite-time terminal sliding mode controller based on super-twisting technology is proposed, which would drive spacecraft tracking the desired states. The other two observer-based controllers are also proposed for comparison. The superiorities of the proposed control scheme are demonstrated by theory analyses and numerical simulations.